Face to Face

by Steph Zabel

The other day I co-hosted a local community networking event with a friend. We envisioned our gathering as a way for like-minded people to converge in the same room at the same time, facilitating introductions that otherwise might never have happened. In this instance we were aiming for local Somerville entrepreneurs and community builders to meet one another, and hopefully to form valuable connections for their businesses, creative projects and community initiatives.

Although we put the word out to our networks and had some positive feedback about this idea beforehand, we didn’t really know who would show up, and what exactly would happen. It was an experiment of sorts… However we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves with a roomful of people, and more importantly, with an overall feeling of excitement, curiosity and friendliness that permeated the event. I left that gathering buzzing from the positive interactions, and grateful to have connected with so many interesting people.

This, I believe, is where magic resides – in the easy-going encounter of people who are open, willing to share some of themselves, and wanting to listen to and learn from others. This is how you not only root yourself in your local community, but it’s how you find it in the first place.

And this is why I find in-person events and real-time interactions to be so exciting and transformative. We have so many ways that we can connect with people through the internet and social media, but I truly think that there is never anything quite as powerful as face-to-face, mind-to-mind, and heart-to-heart interactions that occur in person.



This is the reason why we create Herbstalk gatherings, after all. We do it in order to facilitate introductions between people, to create a space for herb- and plant-lovers to interact. It’s for new possibilities to be created and new connections to be formed. It’s for knowledge and experience to be shared, for minds and hearts to be inspired. We want people to feel that attending an Herbstalk event is gratifying not only because of what was learned, but also because of the relationships with people—and plants!—that were created.

We are truly honored and excited to bring this event to you and we hope that we can continue to be a positive force for community-building by affirming our relationship to the place we live in, to the people we are connected with, and to plants that are a part of our daily lives.

See you in June to do just that!

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Steph is the founder and organizer of Herbstalk. She is also a practicing community herbalist and educator in Somerville – visit Flowerfolk Herbal Apothecary to learn more.

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